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Old 17th Dec 2019, 10:28 am   #1
Diabolical Artificer
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Default Best clear plastic sheet.

I'm after making some labels for the preamp I made, EG "TAPE" "CD" etc. I can do a pretty good job with Letraset on polished brass sheet, however covering with a clear finish to protect the lettering has proved problematic. I tried laquer and thinned nail varnish, the problem is the both lift the Letraset letters and the finish isn't very good.

I thought about laminate sheet but after looking on Ebay the products shown don't look suitable or are only available in large quantities. Any ideas? It has to adhere very well and not peel.

Andy.
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Old 17th Dec 2019, 11:32 am   #2
Ambientnoise
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Default Re: Best clear plastic sheet.

How about the clear, “sticky backed plastic” used to cover books ? A good stationers or even WHSmith should have it. Alternatively, have you tried a water based varnish ? Stuff from Wilko is good.

Ken
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Old 17th Dec 2019, 11:38 am   #3
wireless_john
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Default Re: Best clear plastic sheet.

I use sticky backed plastic used to cover books and find it quite good. I've used it on things which have then sat in my garage for 20+ years, and it still looks good!

John
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Old 17th Dec 2019, 11:41 am   #4
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Default Re: Best clear plastic sheet.

It might also depend on how long you want the brass to stay shiny for. Its tendency is to oxidise in air, which makes it go darker and dull. There are dedicated lacquers to stop this, but as you say they can lift the Letraset. Have you tried water-slide transfers ?

Cheers,

GJ
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Old 17th Dec 2019, 12:08 pm   #5
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Default Re: Best clear plastic sheet.

There seem to be a few suppliers offering self-adhesive laminate in the form of A4 sheets for around £1.50 including postage. Worth a try?

Alan
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Old 17th Dec 2019, 2:47 pm   #6
Argus25
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Default Re: Best clear plastic sheet.

I used letraset for many years and covered it with marine grade spar varnish. Even with that high quality varnish, over the years, it yellows a little.

In the end I abandoned that and instead use a Brother label machine. One of their label options is black on clear, the clear strip is very thin and practically invisible when applied with an excellent adhesive and it so easy to use to get an excellent finish.

Of course they supply all sorts of other color and background combinations so you can do most things you want, a typical example of the tape cartridges:


https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Compatib...YAAOSwk~9dcIRy


This project for example uses the white lettering on clear tape:

http://worldphaco.com/uploads/The__H...nsanalyser.pdf


If you want to cover something like Letraset on a metal panel, by far and away the better lacquer to do it is Holts Duplicolor, clear, item DS-117 or PS-117 in the large spray can. It adheres very well to polished metal and is very long lasting and practically invisible when dry and doesn't yellow over time either.

Last edited by Argus25; 17th Dec 2019 at 2:56 pm.
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Old 17th Dec 2019, 5:09 pm   #7
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Default Re: Best clear plastic sheet.

Acrylic lacquers for spraying have improved a lot over the years. I've even successfully used pound shop cans for spraying polished aluminium adorned with decals. It's really important to build up the layers with very thin coats in order to avoid the kind of lettering 'float' described by Andy. Needless to say, whether lacquer or laminates are used, the surface must be scrupulously clean and free from any kind of residue.

Alan
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